


Where the Sea Meets the Sky

by AncalagonDrakka



Series: The Fish and The Bird [2]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Again, Barbosa is tricksy, Fae Deals, Gen, Jack gets into trouble, M/M, Merman Barbosa, Young Jack Sparrow, dammit Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-14 23:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncalagonDrakka/pseuds/AncalagonDrakka
Summary: Jack and Barbosa meet in an unconventional manner, though maybe not. It is Jack, after all. Trouble and the supernatural seem to follow him around wherever he goes. This is no exception.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I feel a little guilty because I should be writing term papers right now, but oh well. I'm going to try to finish this story before the end of the semester because I have recently become reinvested in my interest for writing it. I hope you all enjoy the read!

Something was following his boat. It had been for the last few hours, and it was making Jack uneasy, as much as he hated to admit it. Every now and then, he could see a flash of red in the sunlight, a column of wicked looking spines breeching the surface of the choppy waves. The water still hadn’t settled from the storm the day before, which made it nigh impossible to see into without putting his head under. Jack might be brash and impulsive, but he didn’t fancy losing his head or being dragged into the depths by whatever sea creature thought him easy prey. 

Jack wished he hadn’t left the dagger his father gave him on the ship. He wished he at least had an oar, for a weapon or a way to move on his own power. A capsized boat, no oars, and nothing to eat or drink. This was certainly one of the stickier situations Jack had found himself in lately.

The boat jolted. Jack dropped lower to cling to the sides of the boat, so he wouldn’t fall into the water. The boy happened to look over the side just in time to see a thick red tail glide under the lip of the boat. The spines and scales flashed in the pale sunlight, and the tattered fluke came close enough to the surface that Jack could have touched it if he reached out. It didn’t belong to any fish he’d ever seen. Fish tails moved side to side, not up and down like this one. That left but one answer. 

A mermaid. There was a mermaid circling his boat. Jack was very suddenly aware of his own mortality. Though many were lost to the sea, mermaids were a particularly nasty way to go. They were inclined to strip a sailor of everything but their soul. 

The boat wasn’t just jolted this time. It rocked precariously to one side and back. The damn creature was trying to tip the boat and send Jack into the water. A rational man might have started to pray at that point, but Jack never claimed to be rational. If he was going out, then dammit he was going to fight the whole way. 

“Come on then, beastie!” Jack taunted. “I’ll fight you all the way to Davy Jones’ Locker!” He would have said much more, really, but the mermaid gave one last hard shove and sent the boat right side up, which sent Jack tumbling into the water with a garbled shout. The water was cold and rough, pulling Jack every direction but up. Despite the sting, he forced his eyes open. If nothing else, he wanted to see the cause of his death face to face. He should have that, at least, to take to his grave.  
A firm hand wrapped around his arm and tugged, sharp nails pricking through his shirt and digging into his skin. Jack looked up and squinted to try to make out the creature through the blur of salt water. Jack frowned in confusion. First, there were a distinct lack of breasts on this mermaid. Second, he was being pulled up toward the light and the shadow of his boat. 

Rather abruptly, Jack was flung out of the water and dumped unceremoniously into his boat. He spluttered and flailed, unable to get his balance back when his boat dipped to one side. When Jack finally got himself straightened out, he came nose to nose with the mermaid. Or rather… merman. The merman leaned in, almost impossibly closer, and gave Jack a vicious grin—almost all teeth. 

Jack’s eyes went wide, and he swallowed hard. After such a close brush with his supposed death and a confusing half drowning half rescue from a merman, his mind was oddly blank. He managed to choke out a quiet, “Hello, beastie.” 

The merman snorted and leaned away from Jack, though he kept his clawed hands on the lip of the boat. “Beastie, he calls me.” The merman muttered to himself.  
Jack took a moment to study the contradictory creature while he grumbled away next to the boy. He wasn’t what one would call beautiful, what with his weather-beaten skin and somewhat crooked teeth. He had unruly hair on his head, and by the numerous scars along his arms and shoulders, even a scar running just under one of his eyes, and the tattered looking fluke Jack saw earlier, this merman had seen a hard life. Then Jack realized the merman was taking the opportunity to do the same and study the boy as well. 

“What in the blazes is a little thing like you doing out here?” the merman asked. His voice was raised now, and Jack could detect the accent in his gravely speech. Well, since the creature seemed so interested…

“Well the other day Larry caught me swinging around on the ropes between the masts instead of doing chores like I was supposed to and decided it would be a grand idea to go tell my da. Larry has no arms and one leg by the way. No idea why we call him Larry. That’s not even his real name. Anyway, Larry went to my da and my da decided I was in need of a little punishment. Da called it ‘learning some discipline’ and sent me to go pick barnacles with Davies and Joseph. They’re supposed to be twins, but I’m fairly sure they don’t even have the same father. Their mother was a woman if the night, if you get me. Anyway, Davies and Joseph are the worst to work with. They just made me do all the work while they drank. I had to pick barnacles past moonrise. That’s when the storm came in. They can come in fast over the water, but I’m sure you already know that, living in the ocean and all that. I ended up stuck in the buoy boat and the boat fell off the ship when one of the stronger waves hit. I’ve been out here all by my lonesome ever since. Until you came along. Were you going to eat me just now? Why did you put me back in my boat, and did you really have to throw me so hard?”

The merman was beginning to look both annoyed and incredulous by the time Jack started firing questions back at him. “I asked what ye were doing out here, not yer whole damn life, boy. I thought land dwellers needed air to breathe, but it seems you don’t, with all that blather.” The merman rolled his eyes, and Jack finally noticed the color. They were a strange, pale blue, which were rather striking when the rest of the creature was in shades of red, brown, and black. 

Jack laughed and put his hands up. “Can you blame me? I haven’t found any other decent conversationalists since I got dropped here.” That only got Jack a more aggressive eye roll. “Decent conversationalist? The way you talk, ye don’t need anyone else to carry on. Ye do just fine on yer own it seems.” 

The boy huffed and shuffled on his knees, so he could lean closer to the merman. He figured since the creature was talking and arguing with him, he wasn’t likely to try to drag Jack down to the depts and eat him. Throttle him, maybe, since his da said everyone wanted to throttle him after he opened his mouth. The merman eyed him suspiciously and lowered himself further into the water to keep equal distance between them now. “Do you remember yer da’s bearings?” the creature asked him hestitantly, wary now of setting Jack on another tangent. 

“Why?” Jack asked, “You going to help me?” It would certainly be a tale to tell if he could find his da and the crew, being assisted by a grumpy merman. Here, the merman gave Jack another toothy smile. “Perhaps. If ye give me something in return, of course.” That gravely voice took a distinctly sly tone, a tone that Jack had heard some of the merchants his da dealt with take when they thought they could get the better end of a bargain. But there was a glint in the merman’s eye that said ‘yes, I will get the better end here.’ If Jack had forgotten he was dealing with a treacherous non-human creature, he was reminded of it now. 

“What kind of something?” Jack hedged, tilting his head, and swaying with his whole body to convey both curiosity and his own brand of hesitance. His options were limited here, but he was loath to go making deals with fae creatures. 

If possible, the creature’s smile got wider. “Only a little something. Ye’ll hardly miss it at all.” The merman was definitely being vague and tricky on purpose. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what it is you want? This little something?” Jack prodded, hoping to learn something about the nature of the merman’s bargain. No such luck, though. “I’ll tell ye once ye’ve been delivered to wherever ye think ye need to be,” the merman said. His tone sounded good-natured enough, but there was a darkness in his eyes that brought the uneasy feeling back to Jack’s stomach. 

“And how do I know you’ll keep your word? For all I know, you’re trying to lure me into something. Your kind aren’t exactly known to be friendly to wayward sailors.” The way Jack saw it, he had a few options. Die out on the open ocean, accept the merman’s deal, or try to wheedle until he could make one to his own liking. He had no desire to die out here, but the other options, while more likely to keep him alive, were dangerous. He didn’t know what this creature wanted but trying to haggle might make the damn thing lose interest or agitated enough to leave. The merman leaned up, somehow looking a little more intimidating than before. “Ye don’t,” he said, “so I suppose ye’ll just have to… trust me.” The tone had a certain finality to it. Take it or leave it.

Jack was quiet for a moment before he came to a decision. “Fernandina Beach. It’s on a little island just off the coast of Florida. Know it?”

The merman’s grin was positively vicious. “Aye. I know it.” 

With that, the merman slid all the way back into the water to turn Jack’s little boat. It seemed like no effort at all for the creature to propel the boat through the water toward Florida. Jack got the distinct feeling he’d made some sort of life changing decision, though maybe not for the better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thrilling continuation of the story! It's a little later than I had hoped, but this is actually pretty rare for me to post two chapters in as many days, even if the chapters are kind of short. Well, I hope everyone enjoys!

“So what do you do all day out in the ocean? Why are you by yourself, I thought merpeople lived in big groups?” The boy was asking another bout of questions and the merman fought hard not to just leave the little brat. A deal was a deal, but this was ridiculous. He was sure his eyes were going to fall out of his head with how much he’d been rolling them. This boy just wouldn’t shut up. Every time he stopped to rest, the questions started up again. The first few times, he’d just tried to ignore the brat, but the questions were only becoming more and more insistent. 

Just to slow the boy down a little, the merman flicked his tail up to wet the bottom of the boat and douse the boy. It didn’t help much. The boy just sputtered for a moment and shook his head to clear his hair of water before he asked yet another question. “What’s your name, anyway? We’ve been traveling together all day, but I don’t know your name. Though I suppose you don’t know my name either. I’m Jack. Just Jack, for now. My da says I have to earn myself a second name eventually, or I’ll be just Jack forever.” 

The merman paused for a moment, still trying to sort though the mess of rambling. Suddenly this conversation was becoming much more dangerous. Names were tricky things, after all. The boy, Jack, was stupid for giving his own name so readily, though it wasn’t anything so precious as a True Name.

“I don’t have a Name,” the merman said slowly. “I don’t need one.” What use were Names to a more or less solitary creature? What use was it to own something so binding? No, such things were better left to mortal land dwellers and those others unfortunate enough to need them. The merman certainly didn’t envy his brethren fae born with legs, who believed they had some use for keeping Names. Jack interrupted his musings with a squawk. “No name!? But everything needs a name! That’s… well that’s how you know what something is.”

“Ye only think everything needs a Name because ye come from the land. Things are different in the water.” Names meant ownership and a sort of intimacy that left one vulnerable. The merman wanted no part of such awful things.

Jack only looked upset for a moment longer before an unsettling grin stretched his face. The merman didn’t like that look at all. “Well fine then. You don’t have a name. That just means I’ll have to give you one.” The boy knelt up in the boat, hands fluttering excitedly about him like sea birds. “I’ll find something that fits you before we get to port.” If Jack was trying to make a threat, he’d certainly done it well. “No!” the merman shouted, horrified. “I told ye, I don’t need a Name, ye fool! I don’t want one!”

If not for the nature of their deal, the merman would have fled that very moment, for all the good it would have done. The problem was, Jack knew his face and had intent strong enough to bind even if the merman were down at the bottom of the ocean. There was a slim hope the boy might change his mind or lose interest by the time he was in Florida. Coming up with Names would keep him busy for the remainder of their trip, meaning the idea would ever be on the boy’s mind. 

He was doomed. He should have left well enough alone and let Jack die at sea, for the sun and the birds to take care of, or even for his sisters to find. 

Clenching his teeth together, the merman dove back into the water, uncaring if the boat rocked precariously in his wake. The faster they got to Florida, the less likely Jack was to come up with a Name he deemed worthy of the unfortunate merman. Perhaps walking on land again would aid in causing forgetfulness. Out of sight, out of mind, after all. Or perhaps, he could simply kill the boy once their deal was complete, as long as he could do it before Jack came up with a Name. It would be easy enough to drag him back into the water and keep him there.

He didn’t mind exhausting himself after that. The less stops they made, the faster he could get rid of this troublesome boy. 

It was dark when the lights of the port finally came into view. The merman wanted to drop to the sea floor and stay there for a while by the time he let the boat drift to a stop. The shore was only a few kilometers away, but he didn’t dare swim closer and risk being caught in a ship light. He didn’t like the odds for himself if a group of sailors should see him.

Jack, who had fallen asleep at some point, stirred when he felt the boat stop. “We there yet?” he asked groggily, sitting to see where they were. He watched as the boy rubbed his eyes and finally turned his head to see the shore. Jack let out a delighted sound at the sight of the lights on shore and ship. “Well then, I suppose that means your end is done,” Jack said when he turned back to the dark water to look at the merman. “Suppose that means it’s my turn. What is this something you want?”

The merman smiled, some hope restored to him. He pulled himself half out of the water to hold to the side of the boat, claws scoring the wood from the strength of his grip. “I will have that which is most precious to ye.” He reached out a hand, palm up, to receive his prize. Jack scrambled away to the opposite side of the boat, a hand coming to his chest. “What!? That’s not a little something at all! You lied!” 

The merman’s smile turned into a snarl at the insult. “Oh, but it is a small something. It fits on the end of that string around yer neck. Great in value, but small in size. When I told you I wanted a small thing, ye never asked me to specify what kind of small.” The merman dragged himself up so that his hips were at the lip of the boat, tipping it forward. “So I’ll thank ye not to call me a liar.” 

In the dark with only the lights behind him to see, Jack thought the merman looked terrifying. He could see the shine of bared, hear the scrape of wood beneath claws. Jack thought he could see raised spines when the merman finned in the water to stay aloft.

With a shaking hand, Jack lifted the pendant out from under his collar. The merman must have seen him take it out to look at it sometime during the day and judged its value. It was the only thing left he had of his mother, single painted alligator tooth fitted on a silver bale to keep it strung, which she had given to him before she died. Small indeed.

Afraid and reluctant, Jack pulled the chord from his neck and held it out to place it in the merman’s hand. “This is it, then. Had a good run, didn’t we?” Jack’s voice was shaking, and the merman though the boy might be able to sense impending death.

“But before we’re through I promised you something else.” The boy steeled himself, dropping the pendant into the merman’s hand. “Hector Barbossa. Your name is Hector Barbossa.” 

The merman let out an awful, inhuman sound as his hand closed around the pendant and he fell back into the water. Desperately, he flailed, fighting the feeling of something constricting around his heart. He struggled for breath, gills and lungs stuttering in panic. The water was frothing like a boiling pot where he struggled.  
Distantly, the merman felt his tail come down on the side of the boat. If the water he was churning up wasn’t sinking the buoy boat, being hit with a well-muscled tail would certainly do the trick.

In the course of a day, the merman, now Hector Barbossa, had lost his freedom and become tied to some wretch of a mortal boy. And now he couldn’t even kill the boy, bound to him as he was. By the time he finally righted himself in the water, he could see Jack swimming madly for shore. The boy was a decent swimmer, Hector thought. 

He would go for now, let the boy go back to his father and his ship, and ignore the ache in his chest at the growing distance between them. Once the initial rage had left him, Barboassa couldn’t help the wry smile that stole across his face. “Well met, Jack,” he said to himself. Despite the circumstances, this had been the most entertaining thing to happen in years. “We’ll meet again, make no mistake.” 

Hector pulled open the ends of the hoop and pushed one end through the lobe of his right ear and closed it again. It hurt like hell, but it distracted from the ache of the tether for a moment. The alligator tooth drifted a moment in the water before settling against the corner of his jaw. Yes, they would meet again, be it by land or by sea. Jack had best be ready when Hector came after him again.

The smile stretched into a grin, showing off Hector’s sharp teeth. This would be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada!!! It took me a lot longer than I would like to admit to figure out what Barbossa's earring is made out of in the movies, and I'm still not 100% sure. My take on the name is that Barbossa is supposedly the root of Barbarossa which is Italian for 'red beard' and Jack probably took note of Barbossa's scruff and thought it would be funny. As for Hector... It's Jack and he's said pirates are shit at naming things otherwise--see Larry the one legged no armed man. Anyway that's how I'm making names fit into my version of things.   
> Thanks for reading! Kudos are great and reviews keep me alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hope you all enjoyed! Please remember that kudos are great and reviews sustain me!


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